Assignment Record – Rev. James Thomas Monaghan, s.j.

Summary of Case: A California Province Jesuit ordained in 1946, Monaghan worked as a high school teacher and counselor, and as a parish priest. He was assigned to San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento and Santa Clara, CA, as well as to Phoenix, AZ. Monaghan was accused in the early 1990s of molesting a 7-year-old girl during a counseling session between 1988-1989 in Sacramento. He pleaded no contest to charges related to the accusation and was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and five years' probation. Monaghan was sent to live at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, CA in 1992, where he remained until his death on October 18, 2004.

Ordained: 1946
Died: Oct. 18, 2004


   

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes

1946

San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961).

1947 Alma College Alma CA  

1947

Seattle bishop was Gerald Shaughnessy, s.m. (1933-1950).

1948 Manresa Hall Port Townsend WA Jesuit tertianship  

1948

San Francisco archdiocese

1952 St. Ignatius High School San Francisco CA religion and public speaking teacher St. Ignatius High had students, all male.
1952 1955 Bellarmine College Preparatory School San Jose CA spiritual director and counselor Bellarmine Prep. had 780-726 students, all male.

1955

Tucson bishop was Daniel James Gercke (1923-1960), followed by Francis Joseph Green (1960-1981).

1962 Brophy College Preparatory School Phoenix AZ spiritual director and counselor Brophy Prep. had 237-540 students, all male.

1962

Sacramento bishop was Alden John Bell (1962-1979).

1963 St. Ignatius Parish Sacramento CA 3/4 St. Ignatius had a school with 390 boys and 413 girls.

1963

San Francisco archbishop was Thomas Joseph McGucken (1962-1977).

1971 St. Ignatius High School San Francisco CA

counselor and teacher of religion and public speaking

Minister 1965-1970

St. Ignatius High had 955-1,124 students, all male.
1971 1975 St. Clare's Santa Clara CA 3/3 4/4, 1/4 St. Clare's had a school with 235-147 students.
1971 1972 Valley Medical Center Santa Clara CA   This was a mission of St. Clare's.
1972 1975 Mission Convalescent Hospital Santa Clara CA   This was a mission of St. Clare's.

1975

Bell was succeeded as Sacramento bishop by Francis Anthony Quinn (1979-1993).

1991 St. Ignatius Parish

Sacramento

• Monaghan pleaded no contest in 1992 to charges of molesting a 7-year-old girl, sometime between March 1988 and March 1999. The incident occurred while Monaghan was counseling the girl as she sat in his lap.

CA 4/4, 5/5, 4/5, 3/4 St. Ignatius had a school with 328-293 students.
1991 1992         Monaghan is not indexed in the 1992 Directory.

1992

San Jose bishop was Roland Pierre DuMaine (1981-1999), followed by Patrick Joseph McGrath (1999-).

2004 Sacred Heart Jesuit Center Los Gatos CA  

Monaghan was sentenced in Feb. 1993 to 120 hours of community service and five years' probation.

Monaghan died Oct. 18, 2004.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1947-2004)

• Community Service Ordered for Retired Priest in Molest Case, By Pam Slater, Sacramento Bee, February 23, 1993
• Cloak of Silence Covered Abuse at Jesuit Retreat, By Glenn F. Bunting, Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2002
• Center Was Picked to House Offenders, Los Gatos Jesuit Home Used in Attempt to Shield Public, By Brandon Bailey and Kate Folmar
San Jose Mercury News, March 30, 2002
• James T. Monaghan SJ, National Jesuit News, April/May 2005



Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Monaghan's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on June 14, 2014.